Is there such a thing as free will? And if so, is it what distinguishes people from animals by our ability to tell right from wrong? These weighty questions have haunted the greatest minds for centuries.

Your editorial of February 12 headlined, 'Biological myths exposed', asserts that a comparison of human and chimpanzee genes is likely to reveal 'the differences between man and other primates are only skin deep'.

In genetic terms there is clearly a great similarity between a man and a chimp. But the slight differences, as we all know, are crucial in human terms.